


Madness at Hogwarts

by Vincent_van_Eifert



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drunken Flirting, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, M/M, Other, Slow Build, Slow To Update, late admittance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:01:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28641882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vincent_van_Eifert/pseuds/Vincent_van_Eifert
Summary: A new face enters Hogwarts. Too old for school, but still admitted to year one. No one knows how and why.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Lucius Malfoy/Original Male Character(s), Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Severus Snape/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 20





	1. The Letter

High up in one of the many towers of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, is a gloomy and dusty circular room. Along the walls are tall bookshelves packed with old tomes, books and various scrolls. In the middle of the room stands a small pedestal with a large open book on top. Beside the book is an ink pot with a large old quill. The books yellowing pages of parchment are filled with names of all the people born with magical abilities. These people will be sent a letter of admission to Hogwarts when they turn eleven.

It is a late August evening when the magical quill rises from its ink pot. But something is not right. The quill flips around as if mad, stops above the book and waits for the book to flip back a few pages before hastily scribbling down a new name in the middle of an already filled page. Afterwards the quill gently floats back to its ink pot.

Not long after, the door to the room opens and a stern looking older woman walks in, holding a long list. She is wearing dark green robes with black details, hair pulled back into a tight bun. This woman is one of the professors of Hogwarts. She begins to read the names from the book and making sure they match with her list. Shortly after she notices the new name, chaotically crammed between names.

She cocks an eyebrow, looks at the name, then at her list and writes it down slightly separate from the rest.

After double checking that her list matches with the book, she turns around and leaves.

————————————

On the outskirts of London, just outside the neat row of well manicured lawns, stands a lone rundown cottage. Surrounded by overgrown weeds and random wild flowers. Inside the cottage, sitting on what once was a nice red armchair, is a young boy. Well, on a closer look, this boy is more of a man.

He is tall and thin, raven black hair that is neatly combed back. His icy blue eyes engrossed in what seems to be the latest newspapers crossword. Reaching towards a spindly looking side table. On this sits a small plate with a thin slice of chocolate cake. Due to his total lack of attention to anything but the newspaper, his pale fingers miss the plate and he unceremoniously squishes the now sad cake in his hand.

The feeling of mushed cake finally forces his eyes off the paper and on to his hand. "Happy 20th birthday to me" he says to himself with a sigh before grabbing a napkin to clean off the mess.

He leans back on his chair and turns his attention back on the crossword. But not even a minute in before he is rudely interrupted by an ornate letter smacking him square in the face. The letter falls neatly on his lap. Picking up the letter he looks at it, eyes wide.

Neat writing in green ink, his own name is staring back at him.

Victor Silversickle  
Old Cottage  
London

He stares at the letter for a minute before slowly turning it over to reveal the wax seal and Hogwarts crest. "what the actual hell is this?" he says before opening the letter.

The contents of the letter comprised of two sheets of parchment. One congratulating for being admitted to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, the other was a list of items to be obtained. Among these two was also a train ticket.

Victor was staring at the contents wondering what kind of messed up joke was this. Mainly because first of all, he was a bit on the old side to be admitted randomly to a school. Secondly, all this must be a crude joke of sorts. Why else would he be given such obvious lies about a wizarding school.  
So, after thinking about it for a while, he finally crumpled up the letter and tossed it over his shoulder.

The next day, another letter arrived through the window and landed on the side table. Identical to the previous one. Victor grabbed the letter, ripped it open and read it. Sighing deeply, he looked at the list and thought "okay, lets humor this. It's not like I have anything to do in my life anyway". The item list had an address and directions of how to get to said address. Apparently you had to find some pub called "the leaky cauldron" and ask the bartender about the entrance to Diagon Alley.

Victor grabbed his black, fitted suit jacket and dressed himself in a rather sloppy manner. He strolled outside and set forth towards the city.

Strolling along the streets of London, uttering small " 'scuse me" and "sorry" while he bumped into various people because he was so deep into reading the list of items he was supposed to be purchasing. "Wand? Cauldron? An animal of choice? Whoever put this ridiculous joke together really went all out on it.." he thought as he was about to reach his destination.

Stopping outside a small shop he looked up from the list to scan the area. His eyes locked on a ratty old sign hanging over the entrance to an old pub. It looked like a cauldron with stuff leaking out of it, the faded letters on it spelling out "The Leaky Cauldron".

Victor stared at it for a while and exclaiming a small "huh" when realizing that the place actually existed. Had this pub always been here? He looked at the people walking passed it as if it was an ordinary brick wall to them. People didn't seem to pay the pub no mind whatsoever. The only person he noticed walking in to the pub was some odd guy wearing robes.

Approaching the door slowly, he peeked inside. Bewildered he watched an old woman sitting by a table reading a newspaper. He noticed the bartender behind the bar lazily wiping the table. "What is this place? It still has lanterns for lighting" he thought while examining the place through the door.

"Are you coming inside?" came the voice of the bartender. Victor practically jumped and locked eyes with the bartender. Clearing his throat and looking down embarrassed he walked inside and approached the bar.

Sitting down at the bar he ordered just a glass of water. The bartender told him that water was free of charge and gave him a glass. Victor was looking around while slowly sipping at his water. Mid sip he heard the door opening and a huge boulder of a man walked in, followed by a scrawny looking boy. Holy shit, this guy is huge.


	2. Getting Prepared

Victor sat there, mouth open in awe, as he stared at the giant man. Hair long and untamed, merging with an equally long and untamed beard. He seems to be dressed in some sort of handmade coat. The poor scrawny boy next to him is dressed in what is most likely hand-me-down clothing. They are way too big on him.

The bartender had perked up. "The usual, Hagrid?" he asked the giant. "Not today, Tom. I'm on Hogwarts business!" replied the giant in quite a scottish accent as he put one of his huge hands on the scrawny boy's shoulder. This apparently stirred a lot of life into the bar as everyone, including the bartender began introducing themselves to this youngster, shaking his hands and whatnots. "Must be a celebrity kid or something." Victor thought as he watched the debacle that was happening. He learned that the youngster's name is Harry. Shortly after, Hagrid excused himself and walked off towards the back of the bar and out through a door. Victor followed quietly thinking that if they were going to buy these school supplies as well, then he should follow them.  
Victor was peeking out through the door. Hagrid and Harry were standing in a small brick walled courtyard that only had a pair of garbage bins.

Hagrid was tapping some bricks on the wall with his umbrella. The bricks he had tapped on began to quiver and move. A hole appeared in the middle of the wall and became bigger and bigger. Until finally the hole had turned into a huge archway into what looked like a completely different town. "Welcome to Diagon Alley!" Hagrid smiled at Harry.

Victor's jaw had dropped onto the floor from the sight. "Either there was something in that water, or I have finally lost my shit." he thought.

As Hagrid and Harry had walked off towards who knows what, Victor stood there, with the now closed wall behind him, staring at the bustle of all the witches and wizards doing their shopping. People all over, wearing robes and pointy hats in all kinds of colors, shops with piles of books, broomsticks, wands, cauldrons, owls and random weird knicknacks. Victor was staring at everything, head twisting in every direction, as he tried to register if what he was looking at wasn't some kind of drug induced hallucination from that suspicious drinking water the bartender had given him for free.

As he began walking down the road, he heard people complaining about some odd ingredients being overpriced, parents ticking off supplies from shopping lists and a bunch of kids gathered by a broomstick shop, their faces pressed against the glass, staring at what Victor assumed must have been some newly released broom.

He stopped by a bookstore that had piles and piles of books towering in the window. Some specific books on display had price tags. Squinting at the tiny text on the price he wondered, "5 Galleons.. what the hell is a galleon? The ships? Nah, that can't be it..". Sighing he looked down the road and his eyes locked on to the huge crooked building, towering over everything else and shining in white marble. That building stuck out like a clown in the midst of an office meeting.

Two small creatures were standing by the bronze doors. Short, squat and ugly, with long fingers and feet with bog pointy ears and a huge nose. Victor looked at them with a disgusted face wondering that in the bloody hell were those creatures. Walking closer, he looked at the building, trying not to get too close to the creatures. Big golden letters written above the door told him that this was Gringotts Bank. Steeling himself for the prospect of walking up to those creatures, he marched up towards the door.

The creatures bowed to him as they opened the doors. Victor tried not to freak out and walked through just to be greeted with another pair of doors. Silver this time. Text across it warned him to not try and rob it, unless you wanted an early death. There were two more of those creatures on each side of the door, who also bowed and opened the doors.

This time he wasn't greeted with another pair of doors, but a vast hall, decked in gold walls and black and white marble floors. Along the walls were tons of doors where people got escorted along by more of these creatures. Two long rows of desks with at least a hundred of these creatures were sitting, counting odd looking coins and large gemstones on golden scales. A couple desks had a sign that said "Muggle money exchange". 

Victor assumed that those were where he would acquire these galleons and whatever other coins they had. So he stepped into line and waited for his turn. Looking through his wallet, he did have quite a collection of money. He wasn't poor by any means and he did like to carry his money around, but he was a bit nervous as he was thinking how much his money was worth in whatever currency these people used.

As his turn came, he walked up to the desk, where this creature looked at him with the same disgusted face he had had. Uncertain Victor asked how much he would need to be able to buy the items for a first year at Hogwarts. The creature looked at him and scoffed, with a hint of "Is this guy stupid?".

Feeling slightly mocked, Victor slapped down a couple of hundred quid on the table and asked what he would get for these. At this, the creatures attitude changed and he asked "Does mister have an account with us? If he would like to make bigger exchanges, it would be wise to have a vault to store them in". Victor furrowed his brows a little in thought as he pondered about the possible need for future savings. Looking up at the creature he finally said "No, I do not have one. But if I am going to be spending a bunch of money, I might as well have one to skip the time wasting process of multiple exchanges".

The creature seem to like this as he immediately began the process of writing down information connected to a new key. The creature asked his name, surname, age, height, and all kinds of questions. And as he lastly finished his scribbling, he asked how much he would be exchanging and how much would be stored in the vault.

Victor emptied his wallet on the table, which ended up being quite a lot. His previously fat wallet now lay flat and wrinkled from being outstretched for so long. He managed to exchange about 50 galleons and an odd bunch of sickles and knuts from his wallet, and said would be making a trip back to the bank in London for some more eventually to store in the vault. The creature raised a hand and said "That wouldn't be necessary, as we can take muggle checks as well in case of larger exchanges". The creature slid him a check. Now that Victor had seen how much he got out of his pocket money, he figured that 1 galleon was about 5 pounds. So he took the quill the creature was offering him, and scribbled down a quick 5000 quid on the check, with some effort as he was not used to writing with a quill.

The goblin took the check with pleasure as he asked if all of it would go to the vault. Victor nodded as the creature gave the key and the check to another creature, who scurried off out through one of the doors. "All set, have a nice afternoon, Mr. Silversickle." The creature said, waving Victor off, so he could take care of the next customer. Victor walked out of the bank, now holding a bag of coins. He wasn't used to hauling around a bag of coins as a wallet, but it did make him feel slightly more important.

He took out his list of items he needed, and looked up to see what shops were closest to him.   
First thing on the list was work robes. So he looked around and saw Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions. Gingerly he moved towards the shop and peeked inside. Inside was a squat witch walking around some student getting their robes pinned. Victor took a deep breath and walked in.


	3. The Ride to Hogwarts

Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions is a quaint little shop that has robes of all types displayed along the walls. A young pale boy with white blond hair and pointed face stands on a footstool as he is being measured by a witch. He has a look of arrogance and entitlement. He is pointing out small errors and keeps telling the witch how to do her job.

As Victor steps in, another witch pops out from behind some robes, "Welcome, sir. I will be with you in a jiffy." she says smiling before going back to whatever she was doing back there. She is a squat woman dressed all in mauve and with measuring tapes hanging over her shoulders.

Feeling a bit awkward, Victor walks past the pale boy and stations himself next to him. Shortly after the squat woman comes forth smiling and gets one of the measuring tapes ready, "I'm Madam Malkin. Have we decided on what robes we are having?"

"I..uh.. Hogwarts work robes? I have a list telling me I need a set of three." Victor answers feeling increasingly awkward. Madam Malkin cocks an eyebrow but begins measuring.

"I assume you will want the whole set then?" She asks and he nods. The pale boy looks over in interest when he mentions Hogwarts. He looks Victor up and down and drawls out "What year are you in? I'm starting Hogwarts this year."

Stumped at the question, Victor just looks at the young boy. He has no idea how to answer. The boy clearly having a lot of patience for slow answers just stands there waiting. "I have no idea to be honest. This is all a first to me too." Victor finally blurts out as one of the measuring tapes tickles him on his neck.

The blond boy, looking at him as if he is daft, "You look a bit old to be a first year." He lucks out from answering as another boy enters the shop. It is Harry and he is alone.

"Hogwarts, dear?" Malkin asks Harry as he is about to speak. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."  
Malkin looks back at Victor, "You don't mind me taking him before you? As I will need to get yours custom fitted since you are so tall."  
Victor nods with an "I don't mind". Malkin walks over to Harry and stands him up on a footstool next to the blond boy's other side, slips a long robe over his head and begins to pin it to the right length.

"Hello," the blond says to Harry, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes.." Harry replies with a nod.

"My father's next door buying my books and Mother's up the street looking at wands," says the boy. He sounds almost bored as if this is nothing new. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully Father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Victor rolls his eyes and stops listening. He begins to consult his list instead and wonders what he should buy after the robes are done. Harry and the boy keeps conversing about Hogwarts. Well, the boy is doing all the talking while Harry just nods. Victor figures that Harry knows about as much of this magical stuff as he does. At least he won't be completely alone in this.

"I say, look at that man!" the boy suddenly exclaims, nodding towards the front window. Hagrid is standing there holding ice creams.

"That's Hagrid," Harry says with a smile. "He works at Hogwarts."

"Oh," says the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"He's the gamekeeper," Harry says dropping his smile, an inkling of irritation growing in his voice.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage - lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed,"

"I think he's brilliant," Harry says coldly, clearly irritated now.

"Do you?" the boy says, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead," Harry replies shortly.

"Oh, sorry," says the other, not sounding sorry whatsoever. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"

Victor looks back down at his list as the boys begins bickering again, not interested at all. Shortly after Malkin tells Harry that he is all done and Harry hops down and walks towards the door.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," the blond boy says after Harry before Harry leaves the shop along with Hagrid. "Wow, can you believe him? Hanging around with that big oaf? I would feel so ashamed," he says rounding on Victor instead. "You never answered me by the way. Aren't you a bit too old for a first year?"

"Oh, yeah, I suppose.. You see, I just moved here, so I guess I am like an exchange student of sorts" Victor answers, hoping that his lie isn't being too obvious. It seems to have been enough as the blond just shrugs and accepts it.

"I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy"

"Victor Silversickle."   
A quick handshake for introduction is all that they have time for before Victor gets covered in robes.

"Thank you for waiting, now lets get you pinned up!" Madam Malkins is back and is now actively pinning the robes to fit Victor's tall figure. In the meantime, Malfoy gets his robes all done and leaves.  
The fitting finishes in silence and Victor pays and leaves, now eyeing a shop making a lot of noise. It is the magical menagerie. Owls of all colors are in cages outside and the window has a cage full of... hairballs?   
He walks towards it to peek at the multicolored hairballs. They are moving.

~****~

Back outside of the pungent shop of animals, Victor walks towards his next destination, Ollivander's. Climbing on his shoulder is his new friend, Waldy, a fully black, flying fox bat. He didn't feel like getting a cat or an owl as they felt like too much work to take care of, and a toad felt lame.   
All the magical things around him had started to feel quite normal and even the shop showing broomsticks didn't faze him anymore. So in he walks through the doors of Ollivander's just to be greeted with a cloud of dust as a pile of boxes tips out of a shelf, followed by a low cursing from behind another shelf.

"Excuse me? Anyone here?" Victor calls out towards the shelves. Ruffling and scuffling is heard from behind the shelves.

"Just a moment," a voice coughs out as the boxes floats up in the air and starts piling themselves back up on the shelf. Shortly after an old man appears. "Oh hello, I do not recall ever seeing you here. New in town? Looking to replace your wand?"

Victor blinks a few times in confusion before it hits him. He had the same thing happen at Madam Malkins. The old man must think he isn't a new student. "Oh, no.. I'm here for my very first wand. You see, I received this letter to Hogwarts and it says I will need a wand."

Ollivander looks up at Victor. Eyes him up and down. "Aren't you a bit old for a student?"

This seems to become a thing. "Yes, I got the same question from another student not that long ago. I'm new here, and I guess I am a bit of an exception.." Victor looks at the vast amount of boxes piled in the back. "So how does one get a wand? Is there a choice or?" he trails off.

"Preceptive are we? Hmm, I'll see what I can find you." Ollivander says as he turns towards the shelves. He picks out a box and brings it out. Presenting a beautiful cedar wand with unicorn hair core. "How about this one? Give it a wave" he says as Victor just stands there looking at it.

Victor grabs the wand and flicks it. A shelf broke in half. "Noooope, not to worry, we shall find the right one for you." Ollivander coughs out from inhaling some of the dust caused by the wreckage. Victor lays the wand carefully back on the desk. Shortly after, Ollivander returns carrying another box. This one was ebony with phoenix feather and yet again caused mayhem when used. After at least a dozen or so different wands, Ollivander returns with an elegant maple wand with a dragon heartstring core. It is almost white with elegant details in darker hues. Grabbing the wand, Victor feels like his arm extended and became one with the wand.

"Whoa, that felt weird." Victor exclaims as he inspects the wand. "What was that?"

"You see, a wand chooses the wizard. And this wand chose you. Looks like we have a bit of a traveler in you," Ollivander says as he takes the wand and places it neatly back in the box and wraps it up. "That will be 7 galleons."

Victor pays and walk back out to finish his list of stuff to buy. He looks down at all the bags and realizes that if he is going to get all the items, it will be quite a lot to carry. He needed something to put all this junk in. He looks around and sees a store with various knickknacks in it. Deciding to trust his luck, he walks in and sees all kinds of various items. Telescopes, weird whirring orbs, scales of all kinds of materials and sizes, and along a wall are trunks, luggages, briefcases and other bags.

Waltzing over he inspects the bags and trunks. "A huge trunk might be useful for all this crap.. but how am I to haul that around comfortably?" he mumbles to himself. A short tap on his shoulder and the arrival of a young man snaps him back to reality.

"Good day, sir! Looking for a new case for travels?" the man exclaims with a broad smile. "We have them in all sizes and styles. All enhanced with our best extension charms to keep all your belongings easily accessible."

"Extension charms? So, are you saying I could fit a whole ton of stuff in say... this briefcase?" Victor said as he grabbed a random small briefcase from the shelf.

"Absolutely! Depending on how much you are thinking about, we have different levels of extensions." The seller is gesticulating towards some more pricier cases.

Victor sees one neat, dark brown, leather briefcase with leather straps and a handle on top. "How much is that one and can it fit at least a room full of crap in it?"

"Oh, you have a keen eye for the very best I see. This one is made out of dragon hide and we can certainly put our best extension charms to it. That would be 50 galleons."

Having no respect for money and value, Victor decides to buy it and shoves his robes in it. "Could I also get a pair of brass scales and a telescope? Oh and a set of crystal phials."

"Buying school supplies for your student?" the seller asks while collecting all the items, seeing the list Victor is holding.

"Eh... yes." Victor answers. Might as well use that as a lie since the other one is too bothersome to keep repeating.

Finally done in there, Victor happily carries his new briefcase, visiting shops to buy the rest of the items. Cauldron, various weird ingredients, a whole set of quills, inks and parchment, and he decides to buy not only the set of books for 1st grade but all up to 4th grade, just to save time for when that would be needed. Even with all these items, the briefcase remains surprisingly lightweight. With all his shopping done, he decides to go back home and wait for the time to get on this train.

~****~

Studying the train ticket, Victor walks along the roads of London towards King's Cross Station. "Platform 9 and 3/4?" he mumbles aloud while entering the station. The place is packed with people, some running to their platforms. Victor is casually strolling along the station, looking at the platforms. Finally he reaches platforms 9 and 10. He looks up at the signs, then down at his ticket. Is there another way to this platform, just like through the wall to Diagon Alley? He decides to walk along the platform, seemingly waiting for someone or something, while discreetly running his hand along the pillars. One pillar feels different. Like it isn't supposed to be there. Victor looks at his hand and it has slightly merged with the bricks. This has to be it. He looks around to make sure the people around aren't paying attention to him and he leans towards the pillar.

Emerging out onto a platform, packed with witches and wizards and their families. All boarding a massive scarlet and black steam train. Victor looks up towards the gate he came out of and sees the sign. 'Platform 9 3/4, Hogwarts Express'. He definitely came to the right place.  
He boards the train and finds quite easily an empty compartment. He is still early and the train wouldn't leave in a few hours. So he decides to take a nap, leaning towards the window, his briefcase tucked away above him on the luggage rack.

A few hours later, the noise level is now quite high as people are slamming doors, chatting excitedly and stowing away luggage. The door to Victors compartment slide open and three people cram themselves in.   
"Hey, it's you from Malkins. Victor was it?" came a drawling voice from above. Victor squints his eye open to see who it is.

"Oh, uh yeh... Draco Malfoy, right?" he replies while sitting up straight with a big yawn.

Draco sits down on the opposite seat, his two companions sitting down on either side of him. He gestures towards each. "This is Crabbe and that's Goyle. They are friends of mine."

Victor nods towards the other two in acknowledgment. Shortly after the door slides open again and girl stand there. "Hey, Draco. People around are saying that Harry Potter is on the train!" She kind of squeals out. Draco looks at his friends and then at Victor.

"You wanna join? I'm going to go see if its true." he drawls while standing up and walks towards the door. He turns and awaits Victors answer.

"You go on, I think I will resume my nap. I didn't get much sleep." Victor answers, waiving his hand to shoo them away. He settles back down and resumes his nap. The ride to Hogwarts was going to take a while.


	4. The Sorting

Victor wakes up as he is being shaken by Draco. "We should be there soon, so you might want to get ready. I bet people will otherwise mistake you for a professor." Draco says with a sneer.   
Victor rubs his eyes as he stands up to pull down his briefcase. Everyone else are wearing their school robes already. The train has started to slow down. Victor pulls out one of his school robes and slips it on hastily, snapping his briefcase shut afterwards.

The train stops at Hogsmead Station where teachers are already waiting for the students. Victor hops out and looks around at the masses of students exiting the train. A booming voice rings out over the excited chatter. "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"

Hagrid's huge figure could be easily seen over the pile of students. Towering like a massive boulder in the midst of a sea of pointy hats. "C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" He booms one last time. Victor awkwardly follows the tiny students. "Hello there, Professor. Migh' want to hurry to the carriages or yer gonna miss the las' one"

Victor looks behind him, then back at Hagrid. "Are you talking to me?" He asks, pointing at himself. "I'm a student.. erm, special case"

Hagrid squints his eyes at Victor, looking at him skeptically. Someone tugs at his sleeve and he looks down. Harry peeks out from behind him and steps forward. "Hi, I saw you getting your school robes at Madam Malkin's."

Hagrid perks up at this and laughs out "Well, in that case! Hop on along with me!" And he turns to walk down a slippery path. Slipping and sliding down the road, they all walk quietly. A plump boy called Neville sniffling once or twice, mumbling something about a frog. "Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec" Hagrid calls over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

Short walk longer and the narrow path opens up to the edge of a large black lake. The surface so still, it is like looking at a sheet of black glass. Perched atop a mountain on the other side, the massive castle can be seen with its many turrets and towers. Its many windows sparkling in the night.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid calls, pointing towards a fleet of tiny dinghies that are moored by the shore. Each boat having a lantern hanging at the front. Everyone starts hopping in to a boat along with their already established friend groups. Victor looks around just to realize that he will be alone. He climbs into the last one and sits down. There are no oars.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid shouts from his own boat which he also stands in alone. The tiny boat not sinking any more than the rest, even with Hagrid's massive body on it. He points his pink umbrella towards the castle. "Right then- FORWARD!"

And the fleet of boats launches forward, all at the same time, gliding across the still water as if skating on ice. Vincent is fascinated over how all this magic is now blooming everywhere. This is all new to him, and he is soaking it in like a sponge. Life to him was boring to say the least. Always had to listen to droning phone-calls about property management, writing checks, have meetings with boring people. He knew how to work them, how to gain from all of them. But now, after that mysterious letter, his world had turned upside down. This is.. exciting. He wants to know how to get the same power here, as he has on 'the other side'. But first, he would have to learn. He takes out his wand and looks at it. Letting his fingers caress it, as if it is a newfound valuable treasure that will take him to new levels of power. A smile emerges on his face, one full of determination. He is going to climb high, no matter what comes in his way. He looks up at the castle.

Approaching the cliffs where the castle stands, the boats not slowing down at all, Hagrid suddenly yells "Heads down!" as the first boats reach the cliff walls. A curtain of ivy parts, revealing a wide opening to a dark tunnel going right underneath the castle. The boats keep sailing through it until they reach an underground harbor; each boat stopping along the edges. The students clambers out onto rocks and pebbles. Hagrid checking the boats as people climbs out of them. "Oy, you there! Is this your toad?"

"Trevor!" cries Neville blissfully, running towards Hagrid, hands outstretched. After Neville has his toad safe and secure, Hagrid grabs one of the lanterns from the boats and leads the students up a long flight of stairs, snaking up the cliff wall. At the top they are met with damp, smooth grass at the shadow of the majestic castle. Upon reaching the castle, they climb up the few flights of stone steps and stop in front of two massive oak front doors.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid raises a gigantic fist and knocks three times on the doors. The doors swing open at once and a stern looking woman is standing there, clad in emerald green robes. The large hall behind her is lit up by flaming torches, just like the ones in Gringotts. The ceiling too high to even make out. A magnificent marble staircase at the far end, leading to the upper floors.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid says, puffing himself up with pride having successfully delivered them safely.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She notices Victor standing in the back, inspecting the castle with interest. "Sir? May I ask what you are here for?"

Victor snaps out of his inspection and looks at McGonagall with a doubtful look, wondering if this ancient old crow is one of the teachers. "Huh? Me? I'm a student. Am I going to have to explain this to every bloody person that I meet? It is getting quite annoying."

McGonagall cocks an eyebrow and takes out her list, with clear confusion plastered on her face. "Name?" She asks.

"Victor Silversickle. You guys sent me not one, but two bloody letters! I agreed to come, now it is your turn to fulfill your end of the contract. I have invested a lot in this already." Victor sneers annoyed.

McGonagall finding the name on the side of her list, remembers the hastily added script in the book. She clears her throat, "Well then, everyone follow me." And she turns and leads the students across the flagged stone floor. The muffled buzz of voices can be heard from a doorway to the right. McGonagall leads the students past it and continue into a small chamber off the hall. Everyone trying to cram themselves in, feeling like canned sardines. 

"Welcome to Hogwarts," McGonagall has turned towards the students. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like a family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room."

Victor losing focus of her droning on the different houses and whatnots looks around the room. His eyes lock onto a small bug crawling along the wall. Some students trying to make themselves look tidier by flattening their hair or smoothing out wrinkles off their robes. 

"I shall return when we are ready for you," McGonagall says as she turns towards the door. "Please wait quietly."

The sound of the door closing snaps Victor back to reality, smushing the bug with his finger. He wipes it off on the back of the student in front of him. A few of the students looks around nervously. Harry whispering frantically to a ginger haired boy. A bushy haired girl is reciting a million words a second to herself in a whispered tone. 

Victor looks around at the nervous bunch, chuckling to himself as he thinks it is stupid for them to think there would be a test, when no one has had any time to learn anything yet. Suddenly about twenty or so ghosts swoop through the back wall, causing several of the students to scream in surprise. Pearly-white and transparent, gliding past the first years. They seemed to be arguing among each other. One looking like a fat little monk was arguing with another ghost wearing a ruff and tights. "My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?" The ghost with the ruff has noticed the students. 

"New students!" The Fat Friar exclaims merrily, smiling at them all. "About to be sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nod mutely. 

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old House, you know."

"Move along now," a sharp voice comes from the door. "The sorting ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall is back, shooing the ghosts along through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line," she tells the students, "and follow me."

They slowly file through the door in a line back out to the hall and through the doors into the Great Hall. What meets their eyes are thousands of candles floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students are sitting. The ceiling above matching the sky outside as if the Hall simply didn't have a ceiling.

Victor is looking around seeing the rest of the students looking back at him with questioning looks. Looking over to the front he sees how the first years are slowly filing into a row in front of a stool. And placed upon this is the most raggedy ass hat he has ever seen. Patched, dirty and old. "Dear lord, they better not make me wear that." He mumbles, looking absolutely disgusted. 

The rip at the brim opens up into a mouth as it begins to sing about the houses and how all they need to do is to put it on. Victor's fears coming true. He is going to have to put that dirty hat on his well slicked hair. That is going to clash so badly with everything else he is wearing. What a fashion nightmare!

Professor McGonagall now stepping forward, holding out her long scroll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she says as she lifts the hat by the tip. "Abbot, Hannah!"

Victor starts looking around again, as his name would take a while yet to be called. The first girl is sorted into Hufflepuff. His eyes scanning through the long table behind the stool. They must be the rest of the teachers. In the middle, sitting on a golden throne, is an old looking man. Silver hair and beard reaching well past his waist. Sparkly blue eyes glint behind halfmoon spectacles. The bushy haired girl runs over to the hat, jamming in over all the hair, gets sorted into Gryffindor. More names get called, sending students sorted across the houses. 

When Neville is called, he stumbles and falls on his way to the stool, causing a few students to snicker. He is sorted into Gryffindor. He almost runs off still wearing it. When Malfoy is called, he swaggers up to it confidently. The hat barely reaches the top of his hair before screaming Slytherin. He saunters off to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin table, looking pleased with himself.

The amount of students left slowly diminishing with each name. Harry's name is called and he walks nervously up to the stool. The hat taking plenty of time choosing. Victor getting bored at it looks over at the teachers table again. His eyes locking with a gloomy looking man. Black, greasy shoulder length hair and a hooked nose. Dressed in all black. Skin so pale it could compete with the ghosts in the hall. Victor smirks. The teacher looks like the many people he loves to taunt, as they are so easily teased. His attention is brought back to the hat once more as it yells Gryffindor. Harry had finally been sorted. People applauding loudly as Harry shakily walks over to the Gryffindor table to join the others. Two ginger boys looking like each others reflections yell out "We got Potter!"

Victor's name is finally called and he saunters up to the stool lazily. People whispering around about the peculiarity of why such an old guy is being sorted. Victor trying to avoid having the hat touching his hair. The hat in return trying to avoid landing on his head screams, "SLYTHERIN!"

Sliding swiftly off the stool, he walks over to the Slytherin table and sits as far out on the end as humanly possible. Malfoy sliding over with a smirk, "Hey, you got sorted into the best house."

Victor taking advantage of the fact that Malfoy seems to know a lot about the school, "Who's the bat at the teachers table?" He asks, nodding towards the teacher in black. 

Malfoy's face falters a little, "That's Severus Snape. He is the head of our house. You should do as he says. He is also a close family friend." He sneers, adding the last part possibly to show that he has powerful connections. 

Victor rolls his eyes. But knowing that Malfoy is right about one thing. Getting on the good books of their head of house would indeed be a good thing if he wanted to climb high.


End file.
